adg211288 Fated to Burn (2015) is the second full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Darkology. This release has been quite long awaited as it's been six years since the band made their debut with Altered Reflections (2009). It's a similar situation to another band of guitarist Michael Harris, Thought Chamber, who released their debut Angular Perceptions (2007) and then also did not follow it up for six years, until they released Psykerion (2013) with a largely new line-up. Darkology however have kept the same four piece band together that made Altered Reflections; Michael Harris on guitars, brother Brian Harris on drums, Mike Neal on bass, and Kelly 'Sundown' Carpenter on vocals.

The music on Fated to Burn continues the power metal influenced progressive metal sound of Altered Reflections. Compared to the first album I hear quite a bit more power metal techniques being used although I would still say that Fated to Burn is primarily a progressive metal record. My initial experience with the two albums has been pretty different though. Altered Reflections was a killer record, the rare kind that instantly earned it five stars from me and it wasn't a flash in the pan kind of experience; I still regard it as one of the best albums of 2009. Such an album was always going to be a tough act to follow, no matter how long it took Darkology and Fated to Burn didn't leave such a strong first impression. The second half of the album seemed stronger than the first, like it was getting off to a slow start, with the first really excellent track being The Shadows of Oth, which is still a favourite of mine from the album along with the closing nine minute epic Nightmare King. I even thought that the opening Kill Me If You Can was especially not up to scratch. The first half has grown on me with each listen though, especially Kill Me If You Can, so I would still say that Darkology have done a good job and put out a worthy and consistent follow-up, though overall slightly lesser than Altered Reflections.

To expand on that, it's like that even though there are more power metal elements being used, it does seem to me that Fated to Burn doesn't have quite the same punch as the debut did. I think that the biggest draw to the album would have to be Kelly Carpenter's excellent, powerful vocals which remain on the same level I'm used to from Altered Reflections and also from Beyond Twilight's Section X (2005). The band remain well playing but the same spark seems to be missing. Maybe it's because I already know what to expect from Darkology now so they've lost a bit of the initial wow factor, but then again maybe not; it wasn't that long ago that I re-listened to the debut after quite a while without hearing it and it still blew me away just as much.

Fated to Burn is still excellent though and despite some lower first impressions it's worked its way up to a higher regard from me, but ultimately it's not a masterpiece like their debut was. I'm not disappointed, not at least now that the first half of the album has had time to grow on me. It may not surpass the debut and it may indeed be a small step backwards from it, but it does ultimately show that Altered Reflections wasn't a complete fluke. 4.5 stars.